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    Moving to Richmond from Chicago: Similar Prices, Half the Property Tax, and a 2.5-Hour Flight (2026)

    Moving to Richmond from Chicago won’t lower your purchase price much: the Richmond metro median was $434,050 in Q2 2026, against $425,000 in the City of Chicago and $401,000 across the nine-county Chicago metro in July 2026. The money is in the tax bill. A $450,000 home runs about $7,605 a year in Chicago at the Civic Federation’s 1.69% effective rate, and $3,735 in Henrico County.

    Daniel Yoon is a Certified New Home Co-Broker (NHCB), Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR), and Seller Representative Specialist (SRS) with eXp Realty who represents buyers relocating to Henrico, Chesterfield, Hanover, and Richmond City.

    Chicago vs Richmond at a glance

    MetricChicagoRichmond metro
    Median sale price, all property types$425,000 City of Chicago, up 13.3% from July 2025; $401,000 nine-county metro, up 6.8% (July 2026)$434,050 all residential; $455,000 single-family; $375,000 condo and townhome (Q2 2026)
    Real estate tax on a $450,000 home$7,605 Chicago (1.69%), $8,145 Naperville (1.81%), $9,270 Evanston (2.06%), $10,395 Schaumburg (2.31%), $13,005 Oak Park (2.89%), using tax year 2022 residential effective rates$3,735 Henrico, $4,005 Chesterfield, $3,645 Hanover, $5,400 Richmond City
    Top state income tax rate4.95% flat5.75% on taxable income over $17,000
    Mean travel time to work (2020 to 2024)33.1 minutes Chicago, 31.5 Cook County, 27.7 DuPage County21.7 minutes Richmond City, 22.6 Henrico, 26.4 Chesterfield
    DriveAbout 755 miles from ChicagoRoughly 13.5 hours without stops, arriving on I-64
    Nonstop flightsO’Hare on American and United, Midway on SouthwestNonstop from RIC, scheduled at about 2 hours 20 minutes to 2 hours 50 minutes to O’Hare
    AmtrakThe Floridian leaves Chicago Union Station daily at 6:40 p.m. CentralArrives Richmond Staples Mill Road at 4:07 p.m. Eastern the next day, 20 hours 27 minutes. The Cardinal does not stop in Richmond.

    Chicago prices come from the Illinois Realtors July 2026 reports for the City of Chicago and the Chicago metro area. Richmond prices come from the Central Virginia Regional MLS Q2 2026 report. Illinois effective tax rates are from the Civic Federation’s 2013 to 2022 effective rate study, and Henrico’s rate is on the county’s approved tax rates page. Income tax rates are from the Illinois Department of Revenue and the Virginia Tax rate schedule. Commute times are from Census QuickFacts. The drive figure is from Rome2Rio, the airline list is from Richmond Region Tourism, flight times are from FlightsFrom, and train times are from Amtrak’s Floridian timetable effective September 17, 2026.

    What a Chicago budget buys in Richmond

    Prices here will look familiar. At $425,000, the City of Chicago’s July median, you’re $30,000 under Richmond’s single-family median of $455,000 and $50,000 over the condo and townhome median of $375,000. In practice that budget buys a detached three-bedroom house on a quarter-acre lot in much of Henrico and Chesterfield, which is a different product from a two-bedroom condo in Lakeview at the same number. Our Richmond condo and townhome guide covers the attached options if you’d like to keep the low-maintenance setup.

    At $401,000, the nine-county metro median, you’re $26,000 above Richmond’s condo and townhome median and $54,000 short of the single-family median. You’ll still find detached houses. They’ll be older, smaller, or farther out on Route 360 or Route 1.

    The pace is similar too. City of Chicago homes took 21 days to sell in July 2026, and inventory was down 26.3% from a year earlier. Richmond averaged 23 days in Q2 2026 with 1.8 months of supply, and sellers received 100.9% of original list price. Expect competition.

    Here is the equity math. Say you sell in Chicago at $425,000 and owe $200,000. We’ll assume 7% for total selling costs, which is a placeholder, so get the real figure from your Illinois listing agent.

    • Selling costs: $425,000 x 0.07 = $29,750
    • Net proceeds: $425,000 – $29,750 – $200,000 = $195,250
    • Richmond purchase at the single-family median: $455,000
    • Loan needed if you put it all down: $455,000 – $195,250 = $259,750, before your buyer closing costs

    That is a 43% down payment ($195,250 divided by $455,000). One Cook County wrinkle: property taxes there are billed a year in arrears, so your Chicago closing statement will include a credit to your buyer for taxes you haven’t been billed yet. Ask for that proration number early, because it comes out of the $195,250. Virginia’s side of the ledger is in our guide to Virginia closing costs.

    Taxes and recurring costs

    Property tax is where Chicago sellers come out ahead. Richmond-area localities tax real estate per $100 of assessed value, so a $450,000 assessment is 4,500 times the rate.

    • Henrico: 4,500 x $0.83 = $3,735
    • Chesterfield: 4,500 x $0.89 = $4,005
    • Hanover: 4,500 x $0.81 = $3,645
    • Richmond City: 4,500 x $1.20 = $5,400

    For Illinois we used the Civic Federation’s residential effective rates for tax year 2022, the latest year in that study. Chicago at 1.69% is $450,000 x 0.0169 = $7,605. Naperville at 1.81% is $8,145. Schaumburg at 2.31% is $10,395, Buffalo Grove at 2.72% is $12,240, and Oak Park at 2.89% is $13,005. Moving from Chicago to Henrico saves $7,605 – $3,735 = $3,870 a year. From Oak Park it’s $9,270.

    You can check the Chicago figure a second way. The Cook County Clerk’s 2024 tax rate report lists a 6.618606% composite rate for Chicago and a 3.0355 state equalizer. Run the Clerk’s own formula on $450,000: a 10% assessment is $45,000, times 3.0355 is $136,597.50, less the $10,000 homeowner exemption is $126,597.50, times 6.618606% is about $8,379. Your actual bill depends on how the Assessor values your house, which is why the two methods differ. Both land near double Henrico. Our county by county property tax breakdown has the Virginia details.

    Income tax goes the wrong way. Illinois charges a flat 4.95%. Virginia charges 5.75% on taxable income over $17,000. On $150,000 of taxable income, ignoring each state’s own deductions and exemptions, Illinois is $150,000 x 0.0495 = $7,425. Virginia is $720 + ($133,000 x 0.0575 = $7,647.50) = $8,367.50. Virginia costs $942.50 more.

    Then there’s the car tax, which annoys everyone who moves here. Virginia localities bill you every year on the assessed value of each vehicle. Henrico’s rate is $3.35 per $100, so a car assessed at $30,000 is 300 x $3.35 = $1,005 before any state car tax relief the county applies. If you’ve only owned cars in Illinois, this bill will be new.

    Net it out for a Chicago owner with one $30,000 car and $150,000 of taxable income: $3,870 saved, less $942.50, less $1,005, leaves about $1,922 a year. From Oak Park or Buffalo Grove the number is several times that. Groceries, utilities, and insurance are covered in our Richmond cost of living breakdown.

    What you give up

    The ‘L’. The CTA runs 8 rail lines with 146 stations and carried an average of 1,042,505 rides each weekday as of its March 2026 fact sheet. Richmond has no rail transit at all. GRTC’s Pulse is a bus rapid transit line on Broad Street between Willow Lawn and Rocketts Landing, running every 10 minutes at weekday peaks with no fare, and it’s useful if you live and work along that one corridor. Everywhere else you drive. A two-adult household in Short Pump or Midlothian needs two cars, and each one gets a car tax bill.

    O’Hare. RIC is quick to get through, and it has three carriers to Chicago, but international trips mean a connection through Charlotte, Atlanta, Dulles, or a New York airport.

    You also lose Central time. Chicago-based remote workers will take their 9 a.m. meetings at 10 a.m., and the 4:30 p.m. call lands at 5:30.

    Job depth in certain fields is thinner. Chicago’s derivatives trading, management consulting, and corporate headquarters base has no Richmond equivalent. The large employers here are Capital One, Dominion Energy, Altria, CarMax, Markel, VCU Health, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, and if you lose a job in a specialized role there may be two other local employers who hire for it.

    There are no major league teams. Richmond has the Flying Squirrels, a Double-A baseball club, and the Kickers in soccer. That’s it. No lakefront either; the James River is good for kayaking and rock-hopping, and it is a river.

    Winter is the trade most Chicagoans want. NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals put O’Hare’s January high at 31.6 degrees with 38.4 inches of snow a year, against a 47.8 degree January high and 8.8 inches of snow at Richmond International. Summer is the bill for that. Richmond’s normal July high is 89.5 degrees against O’Hare’s 84.5, the normal July low is 69.2, and the humidity sits on you from June into September. Spring tree pollen turns cars yellow for weeks. Our pros and cons of living in Richmond goes further.

    Where Chicago movers should look first

    The Fan and Museum District, Richmond City

    If you own a greystone, a two-flat, or a vintage condo in Lincoln Park, Lakeview, or Logan Square, start here. The Fan is block after block of attached and semi-detached brick rowhouses built around 1900 to 1920, with alley access, street parking, small rear yards, and restaurants, VCU, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on foot. Most renovated rowhouses trade well above the $455,000 metro single-family median, and you pay the City’s $1.20 rate, or $5,400 a year on a $450,000 assessment. Still under a Chicago bill. The details are in our Fan District guide.

    Scott’s Addition and Manchester, Richmond City

    West Loop and South Loop owners will recognize these two. Both are former industrial districts rebuilt with loft conversions, newer mid-rise condos, and townhomes, plus breweries and restaurants within a few blocks. Scott’s Addition sits on the Pulse line on West Broad Street, which makes it the closest thing in Richmond to a car-light address. Manchester is across the James from downtown with skyline views from the upper floors. The $375,000 condo and townhome median is the reference point for both. Start with our Scott’s Addition real estate guide.

    Short Pump and Glen Allen, western Henrico

    This is the mechanical match for Naperville along I-88 or Schaumburg around Woodfield Mall. Subdivisions from the 1990s to today, quarter-acre to half-acre lots, I-64 and I-295 access, the Short Pump Town Center retail corridor on West Broad Street, and Capital One’s West Creek campus a few miles west. Homes are zoned largely for Deep Run, Glen Allen, and Godwin high schools, and you can look up any school on the Virginia Department of Education School Quality Profiles. Expect to shop above the $455,000 single-family median at Henrico’s $0.83 rate. One adjustment for Chicagoans: most houses here sit on crawl spaces or slabs, and full basements are uncommon. See our Short Pump neighborhood guide.

    Midlothian, Chesterfield County

    Buyers from Lake County towns like Libertyville and Buffalo Grove, or from Orland Park on the south side, usually want more lot for the money, and Midlothian delivers that. Cul-de-sac neighborhoods, community pools, several large planned communities, and a commute downtown on the Powhite Parkway, which is tolled, or Route 288. Chesterfield’s mean commute is 26.4 minutes and the rate is $0.89. High school zones include Midlothian, Cosby, and James River. Our Midlothian neighborhood guide compares the subdivisions.

    Getting back to Chicago

    Flying is the practical answer. American and United fly RIC to O’Hare nonstop, and Southwest flies RIC to Midway, according to Richmond Region Tourism’s nonstop list. FlightsFrom shows scheduled RIC to ORD times of 2 hours 19 minutes to 2 hours 48 minutes over 644 miles. Southwest’s Midway schedule is thinner than the O’Hare service, so check the days before you plan around it.

    The drive is about 755 miles and 13.5 hours per Rome2Rio. The usual route is I-65 to Indianapolis, I-74 to Cincinnati, down to Lexington, then I-64 through Charleston, West Virginia and over the mountains to Richmond. It’s a long day with a second driver. Most people split it.

    The train is better than you’d guess, for now. Amtrak’s Cardinal, the Chicago train most Virginians know, runs three days a week through Charlottesville and does not stop in Richmond. The Floridian does. It runs daily, leaves Chicago Union Station at 6:40 p.m. Central, and reaches Richmond Staples Mill Road at 4:07 p.m. Eastern the next day, which is 20 hours 27 minutes. Going back, it leaves Staples Mill at 12:52 p.m. and arrives in Chicago at 8:45 a.m., 20 hours 53 minutes. Amtrak calls the Floridian a temporary combination of the Capitol Limited and the Silver Star, and it hasn’t said when that ends.

    How to buy in Richmond from Chicago

    1. Get pre-approved with a lender licensed in Virginia before you tour anything. If the purchase depends on your Chicago sale, ask how the lender wants the proceeds documented and whether a bridge loan makes sense.
    2. Narrow the map by video. We walk houses and streets on camera, including the crawl space hatch, the drive to the grocery store, and whatever the listing photos cropped out.
    3. Book a two to three day trip. Take a morning nonstop from O’Hare or Midway, and we’ll build a tour of 10 to 15 homes across two or three areas so you can compare the City, western Henrico, and Chesterfield in person.
    4. Write the offer with a home inspection contingency unless you have a specific reason not to. With 1.8 months of supply, some buyers shorten the inspection window instead of dropping it. Our Virginia home inspection guide covers what inspectors flag here, moisture in crawl spaces above all.
    5. Close from Chicago if you need to. Virginia closings are run by a settlement agent or attorney, and most settlement companies can arrange a mail-away or remote signing, so you don’t need a second flight.
    6. If a job start date or school year fixes your timeline, look at new construction. Builders quote a delivery window, and you can search current inventory on our new-home search site. Our comparison of Richmond’s master-planned communities is where to begin. Bring your own agent to the first visit, because the on-site representative works for the builder.
    7. After the move, the Virginia DMV gives you 30 days to title and register your vehicles and 60 days to get a Virginia driver’s license. Registering is what puts you on the county’s car tax roll. Our first 30 days checklist has the order to do it in.

    Frequently asked questions

    Is Richmond VA cheaper than Chicago? On purchase price, no. The Richmond metro median was $434,050 in Q2 2026, compared with $425,000 in the City of Chicago and $401,000 across the Chicago metro in July 2026. Property tax is where you save: a $450,000 home runs about $7,605 a year in Chicago and $3,735 in Henrico County.

    How far is Richmond from Chicago? About 755 miles by road, roughly 13.5 hours of driving without stops, usually through Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Charleston, West Virginia on I-65, I-74, and I-64. Nonstop flights between Richmond International and O’Hare are scheduled at about 2 hours 20 minutes to 2 hours 50 minutes over 644 miles.

    Are property taxes lower in Richmond than in Chicago? Yes. The Civic Federation’s tax year 2022 residential effective rate for Chicago is 1.69%, or $7,605 on a $450,000 home, and Oak Park’s 2.89% is $13,005. Richmond-area rates run from $0.81 per $100 in Hanover County to $1.20 in Richmond City, which works out to $3,645 to $5,400.

    Is Virginia income tax higher than Illinois income tax? Yes, for most earners. Illinois charges a flat 4.95%, and Virginia charges 5.75% on taxable income over $17,000. On $150,000 of taxable income, before each state’s deductions and exemptions, that’s $7,425 in Illinois and $8,367.50 in Virginia, a difference of $942.50 a year.

    Is there a direct train from Chicago to Richmond? Yes, for now. Amtrak’s Floridian runs daily from Chicago Union Station to Richmond Staples Mill Road in about 20.5 hours, on the timetable effective September 17, 2026. Amtrak describes it as temporary. The Cardinal runs three days a week through Charlottesville and does not stop in Richmond.

    Talk to us before you book the trip

    We represent buyers relocating to Henrico, Chesterfield, Hanover, and Richmond City. For Chicago buyers that means a custom two to three day tour built around your budget and commute, video walkthroughs of anything you can’t see in person, and introductions to Virginia-licensed lenders and settlement companies who handle remote closings. Daniel Yoon is a Certified New Home Co-Broker (NHCB), Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR), and Seller Representative Specialist (SRS) with eXp Realty, and he works in English and Korean. Call or text 804.896.2694, or email [email protected].

    Sources